Shoot 'Em Up [2007] - DVD (Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci - Dir: Michael Davis)

Relax, switch your brain off, stick your tongue in cheek and settle down. If you can do all of these things, then Shoot Em Up is one of the most downright fun movies you're likely to have seen in some time. Just make sure you've adhered to the aforementioned checklist to the letter first.

Shamelessly over the top, and boasting a carnival of action sequences that each seemingly try to out do the other, the core of Shoot Em Up is Paul Giamatti (Sideways) and Clive Owen (The Inside Man) pitted against each other. In the middle is some nonsense over saving a newborn child, and Monica Belluci's call girl gets put into the mix too.

That said, all plot is thrown out of the window at every opportunity in favour of more action, upping the body count and - heck, why not? - a bit more action. And you know what? Shoot Em Up works, and it does so because everyone is in on it. This is no postmodern pretentious reworking: this is a fun, stylish action movie, and proud of it. It boasts a trimmed-to-the-wire running time, some outrageous sequences, a few bum notes but a whole lot of energy. And while it is, all considered, an excitable action movie and nothing more, Shoot Em Up is also uproarious entertainment, and the kind of film that Friday night was invented for. --Jon Foster

Customer Reviews of Shoot 'Em Up [2007]

maxwelledison123
England (UK)
9th November 2008

Some of you need to get over yourselves!
'Shoot em up' (SEU), the film. Inane? An implausible plot? Avoid at all costs? I do not think so. Yes we already know it's not a serious film, so why attempt to analyse it in the same way as a film that professes to have a hidden or deep message?

The title alone implies the action and plot line of a simple video game and this is the heart of the matter. Anybody that has ever played 'Time Crisis' using a 'Light Gun' will testify to that. Kill the baddies and save the girl. Simple. The plot is hardly relevant.

In SEU, a baby has been added to the plot line to add some more fun. The one-liners are very good, and the scriptwriters have shared them fairly between the characters, so all the scenes are subject to humourous comment at one point or another.

The action scenes are wonderful too, with fast cars, and bullets being sprayed in all directions, but visual humour is incorporated throughout the film, making it emminently watchable.

I feel this film will appeal far more to people who enjoy video games. At 20 and 48 years old respectively, my son and I enjoy video games and we loved this film. We laughed at how crazy the action was and loved every minute of it but, my wife, who does not like video games at all, gave up half-way through the film.

Each to their own then, but to apply any serious analysis to this film is a waste of time. The fact the three main actors were quite superb was a bonus, but this film is a straightforward 'shoot em up', and there is really no point in trying to delve deeper than that.

Reload! Action! (As they say in 'Time Crisis')

almighty

17th October 2008

NOT BAD AT ALL
You can't take this film seriously. But it works as a fun action film. Clive Owen is fantastic and funny in the lead, but Paul Giamatti and Monica Belucci are great, too. Don't expect the best film of 2007, but a fun action film with bits of black comedy - and you most certainly will not be disappointed.

Mr. Warren M. Fisher
East Grinstead, West Sussex United Kingdom
6th October 2008

Asinine
Silly, but unfortunately not fun, this quickly palls with its asinine and frankly boring conception. Just to add insult to injury, the makers tag on a pro-gun control message, this after spending the previous hour fetishising firearms in the most infantile manner. I tried disengaging my brain, but this is just tedious nonesense of the lowest order. Avoid.

bellapussycat1
Manchester, UK
28th September 2008

Good bit of fun.
This film is entirely implausible yet thoroughly entertaining (as long as you can get over how ridiculous it is). In the end though, it is it's complete step away from reality that makes it so much fun and is one of the main selling points of the film to me. It's a good bit of escapism and a real laugh. I definitely don't think it has ever set out to take itself too seriously, so why should anyone else.

When it started i was really rolling my eyes but once you get into this it's really great. Sit back and enjoy the ride :-)

Chris Donelly
Teesside, UK.
27th September 2008

One for the dudes - turn off your tact
Featuring an almost unbearable level of tongue in cheek and action combined, this film is a true "dude" movie - there's guns, the girl, action, explosions, vile humour, and of course awful one-liners (see the rooftop battle with the neon lights - I couldn't contain myself). Don't expect oscar-winning performances, or a soundly-written script; this isn't that kind of movie - it's wry and uncompromisingly silly in a wonderfully noir/violent way. However, do expect some great fun, cheap schoolboy laughs, and a solid performance from Clive Owen as the misanthropic hero, and Paul Giamatti as the ever-upset villain.